Recovery
by Drunken Boxer
Summary: AU Humanized Turtles. A freshman in high school isn't too old to have his brothers take care of him when he's sick, as an ill Michelangelo discovers and comes to enjoy. Family fluff abounds.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own TMNT. Tragic.

A bit of AU humanized turtle fluff because this is the kind of care I wanted after not feeling well this morning. A one-shot in my not-developed human universe, therefore there is no background story or explanation, OCs of any importance, or real plot. If my version of human turtles is received well, there might be more to come, but until then this is purely self-indulgent smushiness.

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><p>"Mr. Hamato!" a sharp voice rang out. "Kindly pay attention."<p>

Donatello looked up from grading math tests in the back of the classroom. Clearly Mr. Russell wasn't addressing him, so his eyes searched out and found his younger brother who was sitting with his head propped up in his hands. Donatello sighed softly; it was only second period, but Michelangelo never did enjoy sitting through class, though he was certainly bright enough.

As Mr. Russell turned back to the whiteboard, Michelangelo twisted backwards in his seat The fourteen year old freshman met his seventeen year old elder brother's eyes. Donatello frowned as he took in Michelangelo's pale face and exhausted gaze. "You okay?" he mouthed silently. Michelangelo gave a small shake of his head and grimaced.

Donatello glanced at Mr. Russell, waiting for a pause in the lecture. When the teacher asked for questions, Donatello spoke up, "Excuse me, Mr. Russell."

"Yes, Don?" the teacher replied.

"Can I take a look at Mike?" Donatello nodded towards his younger brother.

Michelangelo did his best to look small and pitiful, a strategy that generally got him what he wanted. It wasn't the first time Don had asked to check on Mike, so Mr. Russell nodded, "Take him out into the hall."

Donatello rose and ushered Michelangelo out of the classroom. Once in the hallway, he pushed his younger brother's blond hair out of his face and felt his forehead. "You feel okay?" he asked quietly.

Michelangelo let out a soft whine and shook his head once more. He looked about ready to collapse where he stood, a fact that didn't escape Donatello. "You're a little warm," Donatello informed him as he moved his hands to feel Michelangelo's lymph nodes and check his pulse. "What else is hurting?"

"Headache, dizzy, nauseous," Michelangelo murmured, leaning unconsciously towards his older brother.

"All right, that's it. I'm taking you to the office and calling Leo."

Michelangelo nodded without complaint and stumbled towards the stairs. Donatello wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders to keep him upright. It would have been faster to simply carry the boy; Michelangelo was a slender 5'2", easily able to be lifted by Don, whose 5'10" wiry frame hid muscles well-developed from years of martial arts. But Donatello wanted to spare him the embarrassment of having his older brother carry him through the halls of his high school, and so they trudged along.

In the school office, Donatello guided Michelangelo into a chair and went to call their older brother.

"Hey Leo?"

"Donnie!" Leonardo's surprised voice responded. "What's going on? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Donnie assured his brother, "but Mikey's ill. Do you think you could come pick him up?"

"Of course," Leo said immediately. "I can get someone to cover the rest of my classes today. I'll be there in ten."

Don hung up the phone and returned to where Mikey was sitting. "How you doing?"

Mikey didn't respond verbally. Instead he just lifted his arms towards Donnie, like he did when he was young and wanted to be picked up. Donnie melted, knowing that Mikey always regressed when he was feeling poorly. He bent over to gather up his little brother, then sat in the chair and let Mikey situate himself in his lap. Donnie chuckled despite the circumstances. "You're lucky you're so small still." Mikey said nothing as he leaned his warm cheek into Donnie's chest.

A few minutes passed in relative quiet before the office door opened to reveal Donnie's fraternal twin, Raphael. Raphael saw his brothers at once and strode over. "How's he?"

"Can't guess from how he's sitting?" Donnie asked his twin. "Leo call you?" Don's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How did you answer your phone? Were you ditching class?"

"No!" Raphael replied, looking mildly insulted. "I was in shop. Mr. Williams is chill about phones and stuff, s'long as we do the work. Leo just wanted to make sure I knew what's going on." He glanced down at Mikey's still frame. "What do you think it is this time?"

"Hopefully just a cold, but possibly the flu," Donnie said, gently running a long-fingered hand through Mikey's blond hair. "You know he's susceptible."

Raphael blew out a concerned breath and flopped into the adjacent chair, his straight brown hair - the exact shade as Don's - falling into his face. "Yeah yeah, at least once a year." They both knew Mikey was not only the most prone to illness, but also the slowest to recover.

All three brothers looked up when the doors to the parking lot opened. Leonardo briskly walked in still dressed in his martial arts teaching uniform. He took in the sight of his brothers and went to sign Michelangelo out of school for the rest of the day. After he was finished, he knelt next to Donatello to get a look at Mikey himself. "Hey buddy, how you doing?"

"Don't feel good," Mikey said softly into Donnie's chest.

"I know," Leo said sympathetically. "Let's get you home." He held out his arms and Donnie carefully transferred Mikey's lithe form to him. Leo, being just shy of six foot and well built, simply engulfed Mikey in his arms as said little brother threw his arms around his neck and buried his head into the crook. Leo frowned as he felt the heat from Mikey's face.

Leo turned to address Donatello and Raphael. "Right, you two go back to class and I'll see you this afternoon."

They both nodded. "D'you want us to pick up anything on our way home?" Raphael asked.

Leo's head tilted as he thought about their supplies. "Some orange juice if you could please. Thanks, Raph."

"No prob, bro."

The twins went back to class and Leo carried Mikey out to his car. He settled his little brother in the passenger seat, slightly concerned when he noticed the chills running through his frame. Mikey moaned quietly, but didn't open his eyes.

Back at the apartment he shared with his three brothers, Leo slid his youngest brother into bed after helping him into sweatpants and a loose shirt and went to fill a glass with water. "Mikey," he gently shook his brother awake. "Mikey, you need to drink some water and take some meds." No response save Mikey coughing harshly, causing Leo to wince at the sound and speed at which the illness seemed to be progressing. "Come on, baby. Wake up a moment." Mikey whimpered, but finally opened his eyes. He blinked confusedly a few times before fever-glazed blue eyes locked onto Leo's.

"Leo?" Mikey croaked.

"Yeah, Mike?" Leo asked as he coaxed his brother into a sitting position and helped him swallow some Tylenol and water.

"Stay with me?" Mikey asked, looking down at his hands, embarrassed that he wanted his twenty-one year old brother to be around.

A small smile graced Leo's features. "Sure, bro. Just let me grab a few things." Mikey nodded tiredly, his eyes drifting shut again.

Leo hurried into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with water, then collected a trashcan from under Mikey's desk, just in case. He slid himself behind his little brother, cuddling him loosely and wiping his face with the cool washcloth. "You really know how to get sick, don't you?" he asked in jest.

Mikey coughed again, "Not my fault."

Leo lightly kissed the top of MIkey's head. "No, it's not." he agreed, as Mikey shifted in his arms to get comfortable. "But you sure do love the attention."

"Mhmm," Mikey murmured as he drifted off.

A few hours later found Mikey sleeping fitfully while Leo dozed and kept watch over his temperature. He heard the door to their apartment open and Donnie and Raph entered. Raph went to the kitchen to pour a cup of juice for Mikey and put away the carton while Donnie continued on to the room Leo and Mikey shared.

"How's the patient?" he asked quietly.

"He slept most of the afternoon," Leo replied in kind.

"Symptoms?"

"He's still feverish," Leo informed the resident medic, "and he started coughing soon after we got home."

Donnie made a noncommittal noise and turned to drop off his backpack in his and Raph's room. "Be right back."

Raph wandered in holding a plastic cup of juice and sat on the edge of Mikey's bed, though he remained mute. Donnie returned shortly carrying his small medical kit; he rummaged through it before withdrawing a thermometer. "Can you wake him up?" he asked Leo, who was still holding their sickly brother.

Leo nodded and eased himself and Mikey further up on the bed. Mikey awoke with the movement, but before he could say anything his small frame was wracked with coughs. Leo held him a little tighter as he supported his brother. After what felt like ages, Mikey stopped coughing and sat rather limply in Leo's arms, struggling to catch his breath.

"Hey Mikey," Don said. "Can you open up for me? I just want to check your fever."

Mikey blinked slowly, not fully comprehending what his brother was asking of him. "Open your mouth, Mike," Raph said, not unkindly. Understanding finally dawned in the dull blue eyes and Mikey obediently opened his mouth. Donnie slipped the thermometer in as Leo bent his head to kiss Mikey's hair.

"Good to see you awake again, bud," he said as they listened to Mikey's somewhat labored breathing.

After a minute, Donnie pulled the thermometer out of Mikey's mouth and looked at it while Raph helped him get down some juice. "101," Don announced. "Not life threatening, but still high. He'll probably start vomiting if it gets any higher." He exchanged unhappy glances with his twin and elder brother. They all knew Mikey's stomach was most sensitive to fevers and couldn't tolerate them as well as his brothers.

Donnie sat down on Mikey's bed, too. "What I'm wondering," he said softly, "is how he got so sick so fast."

"He didn't," Raph interjected suddenly. "Remember last night? He didn't eat much dinner or talk nonstop."

Donnie looked upset. "I should have noticed," he muttered. "I thought he just had a long day at school."

"It's not your fault," Leo interrupted smoothly. "You've got enough on your plate going to high school and college at the same time. If anything, I should have noticed. I'm sort of his guardian after all."

"It's no one's fault," Raph said, giving his brothers a sharp look. "These things just happen." He turned to his youngest brother, "Why didn't you say anything, Mike?"

Mikey cringed a bit and said, "I didn't want you guys to worry."

"Mikey!"

"You always worry," he continued.

"And for good reason!" Leonardo said firmly.

"He's right, Mikey," Donatello added. "You know how sick you get. We need to know if you're feeling bad before it can get any worse."

Mikey made a soft disgruntled noise, but didn't say anything.

"How long have you been feeling sick?" Raph asked.

An indistinguishable murmur.

"Come again?"

"Couple days," Mikey admitted, not looking any of his brothers in the eye.

"Couple days? Mikey!" Donnie all but cried.

Mikey opened his mouth to protest, but instead of words more harsh, deep coughs erupted.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Leo said as he rubbed his baby brother's back. "We'll discuss this when you're well." Once the coughing subsided, Mikey sat back against Leonardo, clearly exhausted.

Donnie let out a long suffering sigh and eyed Mikey critically. "Let me grab you another blanket," he told his shivering little brother.

"Thanks Donnie," Mikey said gratefully as Donnie tucked the extra blanket around him.

"You feel up to eating anything?" Leonardo asked.

Mikey took a moment to assess how he felt, and slowly nodded, "I could eat."

"All right, I'll go make some soup with rice. Drink your juice," Leo said slipping out from behind Mikey and leaving his twin brothers to care for the youngest. Mikey shivered from the loss of contact, but obediently took the cup from Raphael and started drinking.

From the kitchen, Leo called, "How much homework do you guys have?"

"Vector calculus and physics for college, vocabulary words for high school," Donnie replied promptly, eliciting a not-so-subtle eye roll from Raphael.

"Raph? What about you?"

"Uh...I did it all at school? No, wait! I don't have any homework," Raphael sputtered as he tried to get out of work.

"Good try, but no dice. Do whatever it is you have," Leo said as he walked back into the room holding a bowl of broth with some soft white rice in it.

"Mikey, you have some algebra problems to work through," Donnie mentioned. At his words, Mikey froze in mid-reach of taking the bowl from Leo and stared at the family genius. Donnie chuckled. "Not that you're expected to do them until you feel better."

Mikey looked mollified at Donnie's qualifier and gratefully took the bowl of soup from Leo with a quiet, "Thanks, bro."

"Go start your homework," Leo said to Raphael and Donatello. "I'll watch sickly here."

The twins rose to leave for their own room. "Don't eat too fast," Donnie reminded Mikey. "And if you're stomach starts to hurt or you feel too nauseous, stop eating."

"Got it," Mikey said around slurps of soup.

Raph rolled his eyes again. "Have fun cleanin' up the puke, Leo," he said as he walked out.

Leo responded maturely and stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes at Raph's back, which caused Mikey to snort into his bowl with laughter. Unfortunately, the laughter turned quickly into rather deep coughs.

Leo rescued the soup from being spilled all over the bed and gently tapped a breathless Mikey on the back. "Deep breaths," he coached quietly. "Feel your muscles relax."

"'M fine," Mikey slurred when the coughs subsided. "C'n I have the soup 'gain?"

Leonardo handed him the bowl, hesitating only slightly. He sat with his younger brother while Mikey ate, regaling him with tales of his students and their antics. Mikey made it about two-thirds of the way through the soup before abruptly stopping.

"Mike? What is it?" Leo asked, dark eyes flashing concern.

"Feel sick," Michelangelo muttered as he rubbed his stomach.

Leo pulled the bowl away, setting it quickly on the nightstand before reaching out to feel Mikey's cheeks and forehead. Sure enough, Mikey's fever was spiking. "Ah," Leo murmured. Raising his voice, he called out. "Donnie? Can you come here please?"

Both twins hurried into the room. "What's wrong?" Donatello queried, looking over his younger brother with an experienced eye.

"Mikey's spiking and nauseated."

"Urgh," Raph grunted, even as he slid himself behind Michelangelo in his customary "Nauseated Little Brother" position and took his brother's hands in his larger ones. "Come on, bud. Wiggle your toes," he said, drawing the trembling boy to his chest. Donnie could tell Mikey was fighting a losing battle, and wordlessly plopped the trash can on the bed.

Raphael sighed noiselessly and pulled a face, but gamely leaned Michelangelo forward just as he started to gag. Mikey retched a few times, tightly gripping Raphael's hands with each convulsion. Finally, after expelling all the soup he managed to eat, Mikey sat back against Raphael, panting quietly.

Donnie handed him a cup of water, saying, "Rinse and spit," which he obeyed immediately. He reached out to feel his brother's temperature, frowning when he felt the heat emanating from his forehead. "It's probably time for a water bath," he said. "That is, if you're done puking."

Michelangelo looked less than pleased at the thought of the bath while Raphael laughed out loud. "Yeah," Raph agreed, "we don't want a repeat of the Brown Water Incident of '08."

His three brothers glared at him, which only proved to prolong his laughter. About three years ago when Mikey had the flu, his brothers made the mistake of getting him into the tub before he was done vomiting, and the rest is best left up to the imagination.

"I'm fine," Mikey said, somewhat irritably. "Not like I got anything left in me anyways."

Leonardo left to fill the tub as Donnie dumped the contents of the trashcan. Raphael carded his hands through Mikey's hair, evoking a small sigh from the unwell brother. "I'm just teasin' bro," he said placatingly. "You know I don't like cleaning up puke any more than the rest of you."

Mikey simply gave his older brother his patented puppy dog eyes and was rewarded with Raphael sweeping him off the bed bridal-style and into the bathroom.

"Underwear on!" Donnie called after them. "I'm not sitting with him if he's butt naked!"

Raph chuckled as he set Mikey down, who started swaying without the support. He quickly stripped Mikey of his sweats and shirt, then swapped places with Donnie who had followed them in. "All yours, Genius," he said as he left his twin to care for the youngest Hamato.

Donnie bent down and picked up his brother in the same way Raphael had. Mikey clung a little tighter to Don's neck as he eyed the water unhappily. "Five minutes, that's all," Donnie cajoled him expertly. "Then you can get out and go back to bed."

"Promise?" Mikey looked very young.

"Promise."

And with that, Donnie dropped him into the water. Mikey yelped and splashed around a bit in a minor panic before regaining control of himself.

"C-c-cold!" he shivered.

"You'll feel better after," Donatello assured him as he - rather too joyously - poured a cup of water over Mikey's head. Mikey glared at him, though all threat was lost as water dripped down his face.

"Why must you torture me?" he asked dramatically, sitting back against the tub, still shivering.

"Time goes faster when you're having fun."

Michelangelo looked at him incredulously. "_I'm _not having fun!"

"Who says this was about you?" Donnie retorted without any malice. "And look, five minutes are up already."

Mikey gave a weak cheer and struggled out of the bathtub. Donnie wrapped him in a thick green towel and gestured to the pile of clean clothing Leo had at some point snuck into the bathroom. "Get dressed, but keep the door unlocked."

No complaints from Mikey. It was a habit all the boys, even Leo, developed growing up: when one was sick or injured, he never locked any doors, just in case. Michelangelo stumbled out of the bathroom, right into Leo's waiting arms. "Whoa! How are you feeling, baby?" Leonardo asked as he lifted Mikey easily.

"I'm not a baby!" Mikey protested indignantly. His actions betrayed his words though, as he instinctively threw his arms around Leo's neck and buried his face in the crook once more.

"You're my baby brother," Leo said simply, smiling in relief as he felt the difference in temperature from Mikey's face compared to that morning.

In an attempt to preserve his dignity, Mikey said nothing as he allowed his oldest brother to carry him back to their room. They settled onto the bed again, Leo's hands - though not as practiced as Donnie's - traveling to Mikey's forehead, cheeks, and neck. They were considerably cooler and Mikey's eyes had finally lost the dull glaze coating.

"Go to sleep, Mike," Leo said softly. "I'll be here when you wake up." Mikey squirmed in Leo's arms, safe and content. Donnie and Raph entered the room, very similar questioning looks upon their faces.

"Fever's broken?" Donnie asked.

Leo nodded, at which both twins let out relieved breaths.

"I'll go start dinner," Raphael said cheerfully, giving Leo's arm a quick squeeze.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "You know that means 'I'll go order pizza'."

Leo chuckled, "Yeah, but let him be."

Donnie joined in the laughter quietly. "I'd best be getting back to my work. Let me know if you need anything or if you start to feel ill as well."

"I will," Leo promised. Donnie clapped an encouraging hand on his older brother's shoulder, placed a quick kiss on Mikey's forehead, and went about his business.

Leonardo carefully shifted Mikey in his arms as he and his brothers started on the road to recovery once more.


End file.
